Computer and communication technologies continue to advance at a rapid pace. Indeed, computer and communication technologies are involved in many aspects of a person's day. For example, many devices being used today by consumers have a small computer incorporated within the device. These small computers come in varying sizes and degrees of sophistication. These small computers may vary in sophistication from one microcontroller to a fully-functional complete computer system. For example, small computers may be a one-chip computer, such as a microcontroller, a one-board type of computer, such as a controller, or a typical desktop computer, such as an IBM-PC compatible, etc.
Typically, control of these devices occurs locally at the device with the incorporated computer or microcontroller. Therefore, control of multiple electronic devices in a residential or industrial setting has been distributed. Control and coordination of each device is usually implemented in dedicated, single purpose hardware. Each device typically has its own microcontroller, programmable logic controller, or servo card to perform the necessary servo control. Consequently, the control loops are typically closed in the control hardware at the device itself.
As electronic device control technologies continue to advance in a competitive environment, companies are driven to differentiate their product lines. As a result, some user interfaces of electronic devices have become increasingly complex. This has resulted in an inundation of complex interfaces for devices that have limited coordination with one another. For example, it is not uncommon for a typical entertainment system to have five different wireless remote control devices: one for the television, one for the VCR, one for the DVD player, one for the CD changer, and one for the stereo.
Consequently, it would be desirable to have centralized, instead of distributed control of these automated devices. It would further be desirable to provide a simple and straightforward user interface that can be used to control devices from a centralized location.